San Diego County Sheriff's officials failed to investigate at least seven reported sexual assaults at the privately run Otay Mesa immigration detention centre in 2025, according to records obtained by CalMatters. The agency has ceded control of the cases to civilian administrators employed by CoreCivic, the nation's largest for-profit prison contractor.
Under a 2020 memorandum of understanding between the sheriff's department and CoreCivic, detention centre Warden Christopher LaRose has authority to decide whether to investigate rape allegations at the facility, which houses nearly 1,500 federal immigration detainees. A sheriff's spokesperson said the agency was not investigating those cases but declined to turn over additional records, citing an ongoing law enforcement investigation.
CoreCivic said in a statement that staff conduct administrative investigations of each sexual assault allegation, but the company does not conduct criminal investigations as it is not a law enforcement agency. “When a matter requires law enforcement intervention, we refer it to the appropriate authorities,” said spokesperson Ryan Gustin. The company manages the centre under a contract with the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.
Susan Beaty, senior attorney with the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice, said: “We’re horrified but not surprised to learn that numerous sexual assaults went uninvestigated at a CoreCivic facility.” She called on local and state enforcement agencies to protect the rights of detainees and hold ICE and private prison companies accountable.
San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Terra Lawson-Remer said she plans to question Sheriff Kelly Martinez about the memorandum. Martinez said her department lacks sufficient staff to investigate allegations at every detention facility in the county.
